1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to dispensers. More specifically, the invention is an apparatus for dispensing paper napkins and peripherally retaining a variety of condiments.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerous apparatuses have been devised for storing and dispensing thin, sheet-like articles such as napkins. Some of the most significant advances in the art have centered around the development of devices which dispense one article at a time. Most of the conventional techniques described below use mechanical devices or frictional means for separating and dispensing stacked planar articles; however, none of the references describes a device designed to penetrably engage and displace the leading napkin of a napkin stack, for repeatable and reliable delivery of a single napkin with each occasion of use. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,752,885, issued to Carroll, presents a dispensing device which includes a casing formed with a dispensing slot, a guide wall within the casing which communicates with the slot, and inclined trackways within the casing. A follower is movably suspended from the trackways, and a roller is located beneath the guide wall. The follower is used for urging a stack of papers against the guide wall and roller, for dispensing papers from the device. The roller is positioned beneath the wall in order to cause a bend in the stack and has a frictional means adapted to agitate the stack of papers during rotation of the roller, thereby displacing the papers through the exit slot.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,080,691, issued to Broeren, discusses a napkin dispenser comprising a container for a stack of napkins folded to stand on their lower edges and arranged to present a free grasping tab. The container includes a front hinged panel having a dispensing opening and cooperating side panels, the panels having inwardly depressed portions for contacting the side edges of the stack of napkins to guide them as they are fed forwardly in aligned position with relation to the dispensing opening. Also included are means for engaging the upper portion of the foremost napkin in the stack and a flange affixed to the lower portion of the front hinged panel and extending inwardly within the container for engaging the lower portions of the foremost napkin of the stack. Upper and lower napkin engaging means permit successive single withdrawals of the foremost napkin in the stack. These same means retain the next succeeding napkins within the container in dispensing position, relieving the localized pressure of the stack on the foremost napkin at its upper and lower portions as it is being withdrawn from the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,382,959, issued to Cameron, discloses a newspaper vending machine comprising a casing having front and side walls and a forwardly and downwardly sloping bottom member adapted to support a plurality of folded newspapers in vertical position with folded edge lowermost. Fixed means are located at the forward edge of the bottom member to provide a stop for the foremost newspaper on the bottom member and are positioned to provide a support for a newspaper when advanced upwardly and forwardly of the stop. At the forward edge of the fixed means is located a horizontal newspaper delivery slot having a closure member. A vertically and horizontally movable ejector means is engageable with the bottom of the foremost newspaper on the bottom member. Operative means are provided to guide the ejector means as it moves upwardly to release the newspaper from the stop, then forwardly to advance the newspaper, then downwardly to deposit the newspaper on the fixed means, and then rearwardly and upwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,218, issued to Cox, discusses a pre-moistened tissue dispensing container, comprising a base and a cap which are snap fitted together. In this invention the cap is rotatable on the base to an open position in which corresponding apertures in the cap and base side wall are brought into alignment so that a tissue can be extracted. Alternatively, the cap may be rotated to a closed position in which the apertures are not aligned. The side walls of the container provide the respective apertures in frusto-conical wall portions which are urged into contact by inter-engaging elements on the cap and base, permitting relative rotation but opposing relative displacement in the axial direction, at least in the closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,536, issued to Powers, presents a paper filter dispenser, comprising a band that passes in contact with a friction wheel. The band has relatively low frictional characteristics downstream from the wheel and where it contacts the wheel. The band has relatively high friction characteristics upstream of the wheel where a stack of filters may be stowed to dispense a filter, a hand crank attached to the wheel is rotated whereupon the innermost member of the stack is urged off of the stack and between an area of substantially tangential contact between the band and wheel and then out of the dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,334, issued to Triglia, discloses a trash container liner dispensing system comprising a storage rod for temporarily supporting container liners. The storage rod is mounted at one end of the rod to the bottom side of a wall having a slot for passing the liners through the wall from the bottom side to the top side of the wall. The attachment of the rod to the wall supports allows the other end of the rod to be free and unsupported as to permit the liners to be slid thereon. A handle is at one end of the slot and generally normal to the slot to avoid uncontrolled twisting of an operator""s fingers when handling the assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,599,175, issued to Hellstrom, discloses a paper dispensing cabinet comprising a casing adapted to be housed in a recess in a vertical surface, a front wall for the casing hinged at the lower front corner of the casing, and a vertical slot located substantially centrally of the front wall. Means to limit the outward movement of the front are also provided, as well as downwardly and forwardly sloping slots, the central point of the sloping slots being adjacent to the center of the height of the casing. A gravity actuated weight is included for traveling along the sloping slots to press paper against the front of the casing, and means are incorporated within the casing to draw the weight to the upper end of the sloping slots when the casing is open.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,324,415, issued to Smith, discloses a vending machine comprising a casing having a slot at its front wall, an inclined platform adapted to support articles, an inclined feed member on the platform, guiding means for the upper edge of the feed member, and a delivery member adapted to be raised and lowered at the front edge of the platform to cause articles to be removed therefrom and discharged through the slot of the casing. Also included are means comprising a shaft adapted for raising and lowering the delivery member, and a weighted cable having a suspended weight at the rear side of the feed member and connected to the shaft, the actuation of which causes movement of the feed member to dispense articles. And lastly, the Italian Pat. (IT 455,914), granted to Cesare Calegari, illustrates a device for dispensing thin planar sheets utilizing a roller.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The napkin dispenser according to the invention provides an efficient mechanisms by which napkins may be dispensed, one at a time. The casing or housing of the napkin dispenser sits on a rotatable support platform. The top surface of the platform has hollows for receiving the bottom portions of receptacles for storing various condiments, such as salt and pepper. The housing includes side walls and front and rear walls, the side and rear walls being disposed in perpendicular relationship to the support platform.
The dispenser assembly principally comprises a roller and a follower, the roller for engaging and ejecting the napkins, and the follower for urging napkins into engagement with the roller. The roller is suspended between the side walls and held therebetween by pin means, fixedly located on either end of the roller, the free ends of the pins being disposed through apertures located on the side walls. The follower, a generally rectangular-shaped member, is interposed between the side walls and movably held therebetween. Each side walls is provided with an elongated traveling groove to allow the follower to move there along. The follower is sufficiently weighted to press the napkins into engagement with the roller, but not so heavy as to cause the napkins to be stuck together when dispensed. Furthermore, the follower may be moved into a resting position allowing for easy restocking of napkins.
The roller has a plurality of metal projections or protrusions disposed on its exterior surface for engaging with the cellulose material substrate of the napkins. The use of spaced-apart protrusions for the purpose of penetrating and removing one napkin at a time has been found to be superior to other frictional means. The dispenser may also have storage areas for eating utensils and condiments.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a napkin dispenser that repeatedly and reliably dispenses one napkin at a time.
It is another object of the invention to provide a napkin dispenser which has may be easily restocked with napkins.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a napkin dispenser which sits on a rotatable support platform.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a napkin dispenser which has accessory areas for storing condiments and utensils.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.